Pettis met with a UFC-approved doctor in Las Vegas who informed him that his torn meniscus injury will require him to sit out for six weeks, UFC president Dana White confirmed the news to MMAFighting.com after ESPN.com first reported it. Pettis originally believed he would return to full-strength in half that time.

The good news for Pettis is that he does not require surgery to fix his injured knee.

So that’s the bad news. The good news is, Pettis has already been replaced by a title-challenger who’s actually earned a crack at the 145-pound belt: Chan Sung Jung, better known to us Westerners as “The Korean Zombie.” Jung was originally scheduled to face Ricardo Lamas in a likely #1 contender bout at UFC 162 next month, but has now been fast-tracked to a title fight in order to rescue the UFC 163 main event.

“TKZ” is 3-0 in the UFC, with incredible stoppage victories against Leonard Garcia (via twister submission), Mark Hominick (via seven-second KO), and Dustin Poirier (via d’arce choke, in a Fight of the Year candidate last May).

So who’s your pick in Aldo vs. Zombie? And is this a more interesting matchup to you than Aldo vs. Pettis?

Once upon a time, Ian “Uncle Creepy” McCall was considered by many to be the #1 flyweight fighter in the world. Of course, this was back in 2011, when the UFC didn’t have a flyweight division, and the 125-pound MMA scene in America was pretty much limited to the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino.

Public opinion of McCall has changed dramatically since then. First, he went 0-1-1 in a pair of fights against Demetrious Johnson during the UFC’s inaugural flyweight tournament in 2012, and followed that up by losing a decision to Joseph Benavidez at UFC 156 this past February. (Along the way, he soldiered through problems both personal and legal.) So even though McCall is still officially listed as the UFC’s #3 flyweight contender — despite being winless in three Octagon appearances — it’s clear that his back is against the wall, and his next fight is of the “must win” variety.

On Saturday, the UFC announced that Ian McCall will return at UFC 163: Aldo vs. Pettis (August 3rd, Rio De Janeiro) against Iliarde Santos, a Brazilian scrapper who lost his UFC debut last month when he was KO’d by Yuri Alcantara. On paper, this is a fight that McCall should win. Unfortunately, paper goes out the window when you’re talking about UFC events in Brazil, where Brazilian fighters have been winning over 80% of the time when matched up with non-Brazilian opponents. (Brazilians enjoyed a 7-0 sweep against foreigners at UFC on FUEL 10, by the way.) Can McCall rescue his UFC career with a win against Santos? Or will he just give the bloodthirsty — and occasionally shirtless — Brazilian fans another reason to celebrate?

A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt who holds over 90 tournament titles to his credit — including an ADCC Absolute Division championship in 2007, video here – Drysdale has tutored such UFC veterans as Forrest Griffin and Dan Hardy in the art of ground fighting (or as Bob Arum calls it “homosexual skinhead rolling-about“). Since making the transition from the mat to the cage in 2010, Drysdale has submitted six straight opponents, such as TUF 3‘s Mike Nickels and Bellator vet D.J. Linderman (a.k.a the guy who Anthony Johnson planked at WSOF 1), inside the first round.

For his big debut, Drysdale will face Brazilian slugger Ednaldo Oliveira, who hasn’t competed in the UFC since being strangled out in Gabriel Gonzaga’s first post-unretirement UFC bout at UFC 142. Prior to his own debut, however, “Lula Molusco” — which if my Portuguese is correct means “Lady Mollusk” — was also undefeated, collecting 8 TKO’s in 12 contests.

Davis is also on the heels of a less-than-spectacular (fine, let’s call it what it was, abysmal) performance — albeit in victory — over Vinny Magalhaes at UFC 159. Suffice it to say, if the thought of seeing Rashad Evans try to score 50 takedowns against Hendo at UFC 161 really gets your engine revving, then you are going to need a Valium or six to make it through the spectacle that will be Davis sauntering after Machida for three rounds attempting to do the same.

Leites’s title challenge against Silva at UFC 97 was both uncompetitive and dull as hell; there was a lot of butt-flopping from Leites, and a lot of weird crap from a clearly disinterested Silva. Leites followed up the unanimous decision loss with a split-decision defeat against Alessio Sakara, and the UFC gave him his walking papers.

It is no understatement to say that the upcoming featherweight title fight between Anthony Pettis and Jose Aldo has divided, confused, and outright angered many fans of the sport. It’s a fight that is all but guaranteed to wind up on your best-of-the-year list, sure, but it’s also Pettis’ first fight at featherweight, as well as Aldo’s second straight title defense against a guy who built his reputation in an entirely different weight class. It’s at this point that we’d normally reference Chael Sonnen vs. Jon Jones, the baffling randomness at which title shots are being handed out, the fragility of human life, etc. But we’re tired, you guys. Damn tired…*cries into shot glass* *drinks own tears*

And now, adding to the confusion is none other than Pettis himself, who recently stated in an interview with The NY Post that his drop to featherweight “isn’t permanent.” Uh….the fuck?

A lot of things led to my cutting down to 145. I was tired of waiting for a 155 pound title shot.

It’s not a permanent weight cut (to featherweight). But a striker like myself and Aldo, it doesn’t really matter what weight class it happens at. It’s going to be fireworks either way.

Far be it from us to accuse UFC matchmaker and noted “mean little f*cker” Joe Silva of phoning it in, but when rumors started to circulate that former middleweight title challenger and reborn welterweight Demian Maia would be facing former welterweight title challenger Josh Koscheck, we balked at the idea. Balked I tell you! Sure, Koscheck’s a seasoned veteran, perennial contender, and world-renowned motorboater, but in what universe does it make sense to have a guy on a two-fight losing skid fight a guy on a three-fight winning streak? This one, apparently.

Brazilian outlet NewsMMA was the first to report the matchup, which has since been confirmed by both fighters Sherdog pages.

Like we said, we were quick to dismiss the notion of this pairing…at first. But then we got to thinking: What possible motivation could the UFC have for booking this fight? And then, it all became so clear. The UFC is severing its ties with Josh Koscheck.